Container Comprising a Connection Piece Having a Finger Ring

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a container for a metering system which can be arranged in the interior of a dishwasher and serves to dispense a preparation, such as a cleaning preparation, into the interior.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

EP 2 296 520 B1 discloses such a metering system comprising a container and a metering device. A housing of the container forms several chambers, each of which stores a preparation. Each chamber is paired with a connection piece with which the container can be connected to the metering device to form a liquid-tight connection. The metering device comprises a plurality of connection receiving areas for this purpose. The connection piece of the chamber is connectable to one of these connection receptacles. The dispensing device and the container connected thereto are then placed in the interior and a wash cycle can begin. The dispensing device exchanges signals with the dishwasher so that the preparations in the chambers can be dispensed in a targeted manner at different times and in different quantities during the washing cycle, depending on various parameters.

The dispensing device and container are detachably connected to one another so that the container can be replaced when it is empty after several rinse cycles. For replacement, the individual connections between the connection piece and the connection receiving area of the empty container must initially be separated. Afterwards, the individual connections must be re-established for the new or refilled container. EP 2 296 520 B1 relates to a plug-in connection between a connection piece and a connection receiving area, in which the connection piece must be pressed into the connection receiving area with a certain pressure in order to establish the plug-in connection and, in order to release the plug-in connection, the connection piece must be pulled out of the connection receiving area with a certain pulling force. The forces required for this are introduced into the connection piece via the container housing. The housing of the container must therefore be stable in order to be able to transmit the necessary forces.

The required stability of the container housing requires a certain material to be used. In particular if the container is designed as a disposable container and cannot be refilled after emptying and must be disposed, the container should be inexpensive to produce and be as ecologically sustainable as possible.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a container for a dispensing system that can be placed in a dishwasher, which can be produced in a cost-effective and resource-saving manner and the replacement of which can be carried out easily.

The object of the invention is achieved by the combination of features according to claim 1. Embodiments of the invention can be found in the dependent claims of claim 1.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, the connection piece comprises a main part and a finger ring that is secured to the main part and which can be moved from a starting position into an active position, wherein in the active position, the finger ring is designed such that a human finger can engage therebehind in order to introduce a force into the main part, said force allowing the connection piece to be separated from the connection receiving area. This makes it possible to introduce the force required to loosen the connection between the connection piece and the connection receiving area directly into the connection piece or the main part thereof. It is not necessary to introduce the required separating force via the container housing. Accordingly, the structure, design and chosen manufacturing method for the housing container have to meet lower requirements with regard to the stability and rigidity thereof. The container can therefore be manufactured using fewer materials, which reduces costs and is environmentally friendly. There is also now greater freedom when selecting the appropriate material for the container housing.

In the active position, a finger can engage behind the finger ring. Accordingly, the finger ring must be easily accessible in the active position, which requires a certain amount of space, since ideally the finger ring protrudes freely into the space. However, this good accessibility of the finger grip is only necessary in the active position, not in the starting position. The starting position can therefore be chosen such that the finger ring requires only a small amount of space or only slightly increases the space required by the main part. This means that the metering system, consisting of the metering device and container, can be designed compactly so that it takes up very little space in the interior of the dishwasher, which space is actually intended for the dishes to be washed. A smaller space requirement for the finger ring in the starting position therefore ultimately means more space for the dishes in the dishwasher. However, when the finger ring is in the active position, the space required by the finger ring is not important. The active position is only assumed when replacing the container. To replace the container, the metering system is removed from the interior of the dishwasher.

In one exemplary embodiment, the finger ring can be rotated about a pivot axis into the active position starting from the initial position. Preferably, a hinge in the form or type of a film hinge is provided between the finger ring and the main part, which is integrally formed on the finger ring and the main part.

Preferably, the finger ring is connected to the main part by two connecting webs. When moving from the starting position to the active position, the connecting webs are deformed, but they are designed in such a way that they can safely transfer the force of the hooked finger acting on the finger ring to the main part. The connecting webs can be regarded as part of a film hinge, wherein the spatial arrangement of the connecting webs relative to one another determine the pivot axis of the film hinge. A pivot angle between the starting position and the active position can be 80 to 100°, preferably 90°.

Preferably, the finger ring together with the main part and the two webs forms a tab having a closed peripheral region. The closed peripheral region is stable and can absorb high tensile forces.

The finger ring can be circular. It can extend in the circumferential direction across an angular range of 180° to 270°. In the embodiment comprising the two connecting webs, the finger ring can be a circular arc, at each end of which a connecting web is arranged. The finger ring can also be oval or polygonal.

The finger ring may have a handle tab for moving the finger ring out of the starting position. A fixing web can be provided in the proximity of the handle tab and holds the finger ring in the starting position on the main part. Therefore, in order to move the finger ring out of the starting position, the fixing web must first be disconnected. The fixing web is therefore preferably very thin or weak and can be broken with little force. The connecting webs, on the other hand, can be designed more robust than the fixing web since the force that is required to separate the connection between the connection piece and the connection receiving area is transferred from the finger ring to the main part via the connecting webs.

In one embodiment, the main part has a weld-in part with an inflow channel, wherein the weld-in part is sealingly fastened to a chamber wall, and the inflow channel is connected to the chamber. The main part can have a plug-in part with an outflow channel, wherein the plug-in part can be inserted into the connection receiving area. Insertion is preferably carried out by a linear movement. By way of a linear movement in the opposite direction, the plug-in part can then be pulled back out of the connection receiving area, wherein the required pulling force is introduced into the main part via the finger ring. A longitudinal axis of the inflow channel and a longitudinal axis of the outflow channel can form an angle of 80° to 100°. Preferably, the two channels extend perpendicularly to one another.

In a new state, the inflow channel and the outflow channel can be separated from one another by a closed membrane. The membrane can be designed in such a way that it is pierced upon the connection of the connection piece and the connection receiving area. If the membrane is pierced or torn, there is a connection between the inflow channel and the outflow channel, so that the preparation can pass from the chamber to the connection receptacle of the dispensing device. The membrane can also ensure that the chamber is sealed in airtight and liquid-tight in a new state. This means that the preparation in the chamber is separated from the environment and can be stored in the container for a longer period of time. Only when the container is connected to the dispensing device does the membrane lose its sealing effect.

The membrane can be integrally formed on the main part. The main part comprising the membrane can preferably be produced by injection molding plastic, wherein it must be ensured that the membrane does not require excessive forces to pierce/tear it when connecting the connection piece and the connection receiving area. The membrane can therefore be very thin, for example between 0.01 to 0.5 mm or 0.04 and 0.2 mm, preferably 0.08 and 0.12 mm. Such a small wall thickness of the membrane can be achieved by subjecting the membrane to the force of a punching tool after injection molding, which reduces the wall thickness to the required size.

To also ensure that the membrane tears when the connection piece is inserted into the connection receiving area, the plastic from which the membrane and the main part are made can be provided with a filler, preferably an inert plastic. The brittleness of the plastic can be adjusted by choosing the filler and its content. A preferred filler is calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). In one embodiment in which polyolefin and preferably polypropylene (PP) are used as the plastic, the filler content is 1 to 10%, preferably 4 to 8%. The plastic for the main part and the membrane must also not be too brittle so that it does not break when subjected to the load of an impact (which occurs, for example, during a drop test for the container).

The grain size of the filler is preferably chosen such that the grain diameter is not larger than the wall thickness of the membrane. The grain diameter is to be the largest diameter or the largest extension in one direction if the grain is not round.

In the initial position, the finger ring can surround a pressure plate and lie substantially in the same plane as the pressure plate. While in the active position, the finger ring serves to be able to pull the plug-in part out of the connection receiving area in order to release the connection between the connection piece and the connection receiving area; the pressure plate serves to press the plug-in part of the main part into the connection receiving area. In this exemplary embodiment, the force required to establish the connection between the connection piece and the connection receptacle can therefore also be guided directly to the connection piece. It is not necessary to transmit the force via the container housing. Accordingly, the container can be have a simple and lightweight design.

The pressure plate can be slightly inwardly curved (concave) and can serve as a support for a human finger, the force of which finger can be used to connect the connection piece to the connection receiving area. The inward curvature prevents the finger from slipping when pressure is applied. In one exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the pressure plate is 10 to 20 mm. In the embodiment comprising the finger ring surrounding the pressure plate, the effective contact surface for the finger is increased since some the pressure can now also be applied to the finger ring.

The membrane can lie in a plane that extends parallel to the plane of the pressure plate. If the connection receiving area has a sharp needle or a sharp corner that pierces the membrane upon the insertion of the plug-in part into the connection receiving area, the pressure on the pressure plate acts precisely perpendicularly to the membrane.

The pressure plate can be arranged coaxially with the membrane. This means that the pressure required to pierce the membrane can be applied directly above the membrane without any lateral offset.

The main part can have an air chamber with an air chamber wall serving to ventilate the chamber, wherein a projection is formed on the air chamber wall. The projection can have a support for an abutment of the connection receiving area. The support is spaced from the air chamber wall so that a force acting on the support of the projection when connecting the connection piece and the connection receptacle generates a bending moment. The bending moment causes the lever to rotate, whereby an opening is torn in the air chamber wall. The tear or break in the air chamber wall is primarily due to tensile stresses in the air chamber wall caused by the bending moment or rotation of the projection. The ventilation function of the connection piece is activated by opening the air chamber wall.

Preferably, the air chamber of the connection piece is connected to an air pipe or air hose. An end of the air pipe facing away from the air chamber ends in a region of the chamber remote from the connection piece. When the metering system is in a position of use, said remote region constitutes the upper region of the chamber. When dispensing the preparation, air can flow into the upper part of the chamber.

In a container that is not yet connected to the dispensing device, the preparations in the chambers are completely separated from the environment due to the still intact membrane and the undamaged air chamber wall. Only when the connection piece and the connection receiving area are connected to one another is metering with a ventilation function possible via the air chamber and the torn membrane.

The connection receiving area has an abutment for interacting with the projection, against which abutment the projection is pressed upon plugging in the plug-in part into the connection receiving area. The projection bends, which causes a tear or hole in the air chamber wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. in which:

FIG. 1 shows a dispensing system;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-section of the dispensing system;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a container according to the invention for the dispensing system;

FIG. 4 shows various views of a connection piece of the container according to the invention (FIG. 4A to 4D);

FIG. 5 shows further views of the connection piece of FIG. 4 (FIG. 5A to 5D);

FIG. 6 shows two sectional views of the connection piece of FIGS. 4 and 5 (FIGS. 6A and 6B); and

FIG. 7 shows another sectional view of the connection piece with parts of the metering device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a dosing system 1 comprising a dosing device 10 and a container. The container is accommodated within a flat housing 11 of the dosing device 10 and cannot be seen in FIG. 1. FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically show the dosing system 1 with the dosing device 10 and with the container denoted by 40.

The dispensing system 1 can be placed in the interior of a dishwasher and is designed to dispense one or more preparations, which are located in the container 40, during a wash cycle. The dosing system 1 can exchange signals, data, control commands, etc., with the dishwasher so that the preparations can be dispensed precisely in terms of time and quantity.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 11 of the dosing device 10 has a front wall 12 and a rear wall 13. The front wall 12, which is rectangular in its basic shape, and the rear wall 13, which is likewise rectangular in its basic shape, extend from a bottom 14 to an upper housing edge 15. Near the upper housing edge 15, a film hinge 16 is provided between the front wall 12 and the rear wall 13 so that the housing 11 can be folded open, and a container compartment 17 (see FIG. 2) of the dosing device 10 is open. The container compartment 17 serves to receive the container 40. In the folded-open state of the housing 11, the container 40 can be removed from the container compartment 17 in order to replace it with another container. The container 40 may be designed to receive the preparation or preparations in an amount sufficient for several wash cycles (for example, for 20 to 30 wash cycles). After emptying, the container 40 can be replaced by a filled container.

It can also be seen in FIG. 1 that a first recess 18 and a second recess 19 are provided in the rear wall 13. Only the first recess 18 is discussed in more detail below. Since the second recess 19 is identical in terms of its design to the first recess 18, the statements regarding the first recess 18 also apply analogously to the second recess 19.

The first recess 18 starts at the bottom 14 and extends in the direction of the upper housing edge 15. The recess 18 is designed as an elongated, channel-like or groove-like recess, wherein a length in the longitudinal direction of the recess (in the direction from the bottom 14 to the upper housing edge 15) is significantly greater than a width of the recess transverse to the longitudinal direction. The first recess 19 has a groove bottom 20, the distance of which from the plane in which the rear wall 13 lies defines a depth of the first recess 18. The depth becomes smaller starting from a lower, open end 21, which is located at the base 14, to an upper, closed end 22. Accordingly, the depth at the lower end 21 is greater than the depth in the region of the upper end 22. Starting from the lower end 21, the groove bottom 20 is initially straight (i.e., the depth is initially constant there) and then changes into a curved portion with a decreasing depth.

The two recesses 18, 19 each serve to receive a support bar of a plate holder of a dish drawer, which support bar stands approximately vertically upright or is slightly inclined to the vertical, and which dish drawer can be pulled out of the interior for loading and unloading dishes. The plate holder usually has two parallel rows of support bars, which are at a certain distance (bar spacing) within a row. The distance between the two recesses 18, 19 corresponds to the distance between the two rows, such that the dosing device 10 with the container 40 located in the housing 11 can be placed like a plate in a plate compartment of the plate holder. The dosing device 10 is supported like a plate on the support bars that form the plate compartment. Due to the special shape of the groove bottom 20 with the depth decreasing towards the upper end 22, the dosing device 10 can, on the one hand, be placed in a plate holder in which the bar spacing is small and the support bars have a medium length. On the other hand, the dosing device 10 can also be placed in a plate holder in which the bar spacing and the length of the support bars are large. In the latter case, the dosing device is supported by the upper end of the support bar in the upper region of the recess 18, i.e., where the depth of the recess is small. As a result, even with a large bar spacing, the dosing device 10 stands upright in the plate holder and does not block adjacent plate compartments by being too inclined.

The height (distance between the bottom 14 and the upper edge 15) and the width of the front wall 12 and the rear wall 13 correspond to the diameter of a larger dinner plate. For example, the housing 11 can have a height of 200 to 280 mm. The width of the housing 11 can be from 200 to 280 mm. The height to width ratio can be 0.8 to 1.2.

As can also be seen in FIG. 1, the housing 11 has a thickness which is greatest in the region of the bottom 14 and then decreases slightly in the direction of the upper edge 15. A maximum thickness of the housing, preferably in the region of the bottom 14, can be between 20 and 28 mm. The schematic representation of FIG. 2 shows the housing 11 in a simplified form with a constant thickness.

While FIG. 1 shows the dosing system 1 standing on the bottom 14, FIG. 2 shows the dosing system 2 in a lying position with the rear wall 13 facing downwards. In this lying position, the housing 11 can be opened by pivoting the front wall 12 about the pivot axis of the film hinge 16 (in the illustration in FIG. 2, the pivot axis extends perpendicular to the plane of the drawing). When the front wall 12 is folded open, the container 40 can be removed from the container compartment 17. It will be explained in more detail below how this removal of the container 40 takes place and how a new container can be reconnected to the dispensing device.

From FIG. 3, it becomes clear that the container 40, which is only shown schematically, has a plurality of chambers. In the exemplary embodiment shown, there are three chambers 41, 42, 43. Each chamber serves to receive a preparation, which may, for example, be an alkaline cleaning preparation, an enzymatic cleaning preparation, a rinse aid, or a fragrance. Each chamber is assigned a connecting piece 44, which does not differ in its structure from the structure of the other connecting pieces 44. The chambers 41, 42, 43 are approximately the same size, but they can also differ significantly from one another in their volume and shape. For example, one of the chambers for a preparation that is dispensed at twice the quantity in one wash cycle in comparison to the other preparations can be designed to be twice as large, so that, when the container needs to be replaced, all chambers are emptied as completely as possible, or at least only very small residual quantities are left.

The chambers 41, 42, 43 are delimited by two housing halves or chamber walls 45, 46. Each housing half 45, 46 forms three shells or troughs, which form a chamber with the respective opposite shell. For producing the housing halves 45, 46, a (folded) plastic film can be used, which is drawn or blown into corresponding deep-drawing molds. The housing halves 45, 46 are welded together at a circumferential edge 47 and also at intermediate webs 48 between the individual chambers 41, 42, 42. In a portion 47a of the edge 47, the connecting pieces 44 are arranged between the two housing halves 45, 46. These connecting pieces are inserted between the housing halves 45, 46 before the welding of the portion 47a and are then welded to the housing halves 45, 46 in a liquid-tight manner. The portion 47a is expediently sealed/welded to the connection pieces 44 only after the chambers 41, 42, 43 have been filled with the respective preparations. However, during filling, the housing halves 45, 46 are already welded together at the edge 47 (except for the portion 47a) and at the intermediate webs 48. Thermoforming makes thin walls possible. The amount of material required is very low. The housing halves 45, 46 may be made of polypropylene (PP), for example.

The dosing device 10 has a connection receptacle 23 for each connecting piece 44 (see FIG. 2, which shows one of the connection receptacles). When the container 40 is inserted into the housing 11 of the dosing device 10, the connecting piece 44 and the connection receptacle 23 form a liquid-tight connection so that the preparation can pass from the chamber into a dosing chamber of the dosing device 10 assigned to the corresponding chamber. The dosing chamber and a dosing valve are not shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows only a dosing compartment 24, which receives the dosing chamber and the dosing valve and is integrated into the rear wall 13. The dosing compartment 24 has a dosing opening 25 for each chamber/dosing valve, through which opening the preparation from the corresponding chamber then passes through the connection between the connecting piece 44 and the connection receptacle 23 into the interior of the dishwasher. It should be noted that, in the operating position of the dosing system 1, the bottom 14 points downwards so that the preparations from the chambers 41, 42, 43 can flow out of the respective dosing opening 25 due to gravity when the dosing valve is open.

FIG. 4 to 7 show different views of the connection piece 44 alone. FIG. 4 shows two perspective views (FIGS. 4A and 4C as well as a chamber-side view (FIG. 4B) and a side view (4D). FIG. 5A shows the connection piece 44 from below, FIG. 5C from above in plan view. FIG. 5B shows a front view. FIG. 5D shows another side view. FIG. 6A is a horizontal longitudinal section through the connection piece 44. FIG. 6B shows the connection piece 44 in a vertical longitudinal section, while FIG. 7 shows a cross-section which runs perpendicular to the two sections 6A, 6B. FIG. 7 moreover shows sketched parts of the dispensing device.

The connection piece 44 has a main part 49 with a weld-in part 50 and a plug-in part 51. The weld-in part 50 forms an inflow channel 52 through which the preparation passes from the chamber into the connection piece 44. The plug-in part 51 forms an outflow channel 53 through which the preparation flows from the connection piece 44 into the connection receptacle 23 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). A connecting channel 54 is provided between the inflow channel and the outflow channel which connects the inflow channel 52 and the outflow channel 53. In a new state of the connection piece 44, the inflow channel 52 and the outflow channel 53 or the connecting channel 54 are separated from one another by a membrane 55. In other words, when the container 40 is new, the preparation from the chamber 41, 42, 43 cannot enter the outflow channel 53. The membrane 55 therefore protects the preparation in the chamber from environmental influences and also prevents it from leaking out.

A longitudinal axis 56 of the inflow channel 52 is at a right angle to a longitudinal axis 57 of the outflow channel 51. The connecting channel 54 is aligned substantially with the inflow channel 52.

The connecting channel 54 is limited towards the top by a round, slightly inwardly curved pressure plate 58. The pressure plate 58 serves to accommodate a human finger in order to build up a pressure or a compressive force to press the connection piece 44 with the plug-in part 51 into the connection receptacle 23 of the dispensing device 10. A central axis of the pressure plate 58 coincides with the longitudinal axis/central axis 57 of the plug-in part 51 or has only a very small offset in relation thereto. The resulting force of the finger force applied to the pressure plate 58 acts vertically directly above the plug-in part 51. The resulting force is designated by FD in FIGS. 4D, 6B and 7. Several smaller openings in the pressure plate 58 can be provided to save material and simplify the injection molding of the connection piece 44.

A finger ring 59 is attached to the main part 49. The finger ring 59 is attached to the main part 49 via two spaced webs 60 (see, for example, FIGS. 5C and 6A). Due to the webs 60, which each start at a circumferential end of the finger ring 59, the finger ring 59 has a closed circumference. The finger ring 59 extends in the circumferential direction over an angular range of approximately 270°. When viewed in the circumferential direction, in the middle between the two end-side webs 60, a fixing web 61 is moreover provided between the finger ring 59 and the pressure plate 58 in order to hold the finger ring 59 in the position shown.

The position shown is a so-called initial position of the finger ring 59. In this initial position, the finger ring 59 lies in the same plane as the pressure plate 58 and constitutes a certain radial extension of the pressure plate 58. From this initial position, the finger ring 59 can be pivoted into an active position. For this purpose, a handle tab 62 is provided in the immediate vicinity of the fixing web 61, by which the finger ring 59 can be lifted relative to the pressure plate 58, but in this case the fixing web 61 must be broken. Further lifting of the handle tab 62 leads to a pivoting movement of the finger ring 59 about a pivot axis 63 (see dash-dotted line in FIGS. 5C and 6A). The pivot axis 63 is defined by the position of the connecting webs 61, which are deformed during the pivoting movement and form a kind of film hinge. Compared to the fixing web 61, the webs 60 are designed to be significantly stronger and can absorb tensile forces that are transmitted through the finger ring 59 and into the main part 49.

In FIG. 5D, the active position of the finger ring 59 is indicated by the dashed line 59′. In this position, a human finger can be hooked into the finger ring 59 or 59′. It is thus possible to apply a comparatively large tensile force to the main part 44 and in particular to the plug-in part 51. The resulting force of the hooked finger is designated by F_Z in FIG. 5D. The combination of FIGS. 4D and 5B shows that the resulting force FD for establishing the connection between the connection piece 44 and the connection receptacle 23 and the force FZ for breaking this connection are opposite. The connection can be established and broken by a linear movement which is directed perpendicular to the front wall 12 or rear wall 13.

With the finger ring 59 in the active position, the connection piece 44 can thus be pulled out of the connection piece 23. As a result, the container 40 can be separated from the dispensing device 10 in the position when inserted in the housing 11 (see FIG. 2). It is not necessary to introduce the required forces into the container 40 via the rather unstable housing halves 45, 46.

To remove the container 40, the three connection pieces 44 can first be lifted slightly one after the other out of the respective connection receptacles by way of the finger ring so that they rest on the connection receptacles with practically no resistance and without any insertion force. The container 40 can then be removed from the housing 11 either by one finger ring or by two finger rings simultaneously.

The weld-in piece 50 forms not only an inflow channel 52 for the preparation, but also an air channel 64 which opens into a closed air chamber 65 in the main part 44. The air chamber 65 is arranged next to the connecting channel 54 (see FIGS. 6A and 7). As can be seen in FIG. 6A, an air hose 66 can be inserted into the open end of the air channel 64. The length of the air hose 66 is dimensioned such that the free end of the air hose, i.e., the end which is not inserted into the air channel 64, is located at an end of the chamber that is opposite the connection piece 44. In FIG. 3, the air hose 66 is indicated by the dashed line only for chamber 42. In the inserted position of the dispensing system 1, i.e., when the base 14 of the dispensing device 10 faces downwards, the open end of the air hose 66 ends in the upper region of the chamber 42. Such an air hose is also provided for the connection pieces 44 of the other two chambers 41, 43, but this is not shown in FIG. 3.

The closed air chamber 65 is surrounded by an air chamber wall 67. An outward-facing projection 68 is formed on the air chamber wall 67. At a root of the projection 68, the air chamber wall 67 has a predetermined breaking point 69 with reduced wall thickness and a thin hinge point or connection point 70. When inserting the plug-in part 51 into the connection receptacle 23, the membrane 55 is first pierced by a hollow mandrel 26 of the connection receptacle 23 (see FIG. 7). When the plug-in part 51 is pressed further into the connection receptacle 23, an abutment 27 of the connection receptacle comes into contact with a support 71 of the projection 68. The support 71 is provided at a free end of the projection 68.

The support 71 has a distance 72 to the predetermined breaking point 69 and the connection point 70. Due to the force acting on the projection 68 by the fixed abutment 27 and due to the distance 72, a bending moment acts on the root of the projection 68, which leads to tensile stresses in the region of the predetermined breaking point 69. If the tensile stresses become too great, the air chamber wall 67 tears in the region of the predetermined breaking point 69. In so doing, the projection 68 rotates upwards in an anti-clockwise direction around the thin connection point 70 in the illustration in FIG. 7, without the projection 68 becoming completely detached from the main part 44. Due to the tear or break at the predetermined breaking point 69, an exchange of air between the environment and the air chamber 65 and thus an exchange of air between the environment and the chamber is now possible. Ventilation of the relevant chamber is activated.

The connection piece 44 and the connection outlet 23 are designed such that when the plug-in part 51 is inserted into the connection outlet 23, the membrane 55 is pierced before ventilation of the chamber is activated, i.e., before the air chamber wall 67 tears. The hollow mandrel 26 and the abutment 27 of the connection receptacle 23 as well as their relative height to one another are only indicated schematically in FIG. 7. According to FIG. 7, the beginning of the piercing of the membrane 55 is imminent, while there is still a gap between the abutment 27 and the support 71 of the projection 68. Only when the connection piece 44 is pressed further into the connection receptacle 23 does the projection 68 abut against the abutment 27.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

• • 1 Dosing system
  • 10 Dosing device
  • 11 Housing
  • 12 Front wall
  • 13 Rear wall
  • 14 Bottom
  • 15 Upper edge of the housing
  • 16 Film hinges
  • 17 Container compartment
  • 18 First recess
  • 19 Second recess
  • 20 Groove base
  • 21 Lower end
  • 22 Upper end
  • 23 Connection receptacle
  • 24 Dispensing compartment
  • 25 Dispensing opening
  • 26 Hollow mandrel
  • 27 Abutment
  • 40 Container
  • 41 Chamber
  • 42 Chamber
  • 43 Chamber
  • 44 Connection piece
  • 45 Housing half/chamber wall
  • 46 Housing half/chamber wall
  • 47 Edge (portion 47a)
  • 48 Intermediate web
  • 49 Main part
  • 50 Weld-in part
  • 51 Plug-in part
  • 52 Inflow channel
  • 53 Outflow channel
  • 54 Connecting channel
  • 55 Membrane
  • 56 Longitudinal axis
  • 57 Longitudinal axis
  • 59 Pressure plate
  • 59 Finger ring (59′finger ring in active position)
  • 60 Web
  • 61 Fixing webs
  • 62 Handle tab
  • 63 Pivot axis
  • 64 Air channel
  • 65 Air chamber
  • 66 Air hose/air pipe
  • 67 Air chamber wall
  • 68 Projection
  • 69 Predetermined breaking point
  • 70 Connection point/hinge point
  • 71 Support
  • 72 Distance